The Master of Evil
by I. H. Scribe
Summary: Harry Potter is raised by Maleficent as her apprentice and heir.


Fandoms: Sleeping Beauty, Harry Potter

Characters: Maleficent, Harry Potter

Prompt: Harry is Maleficent's Apprentice

Prompt Made By: whitetigerwolf

Disclaimer: I don't own the following series(es) or any character(s) that follow, and unless _I. H. Scribe_ is listed after _Prompt Made By_ chances are I don't own the idea for this story either.

* * *

"Good luck Harry Potter," Albus Dumbledore said, and with that he disappeared into the night. But something else was on Privet Drive that night, or rather, some_one_ else, and they had watched everything.

The shadows grouped together near the doorstep of Number Four and then they grew upwards, taking the shape of a tall, thin, pale woman, who, despite her young appearance, leaned quite heavily on her staff (which was even taller than she was).

"He would leave the boy here?" she mused aloud. "Perhaps Albus Dumbledore has a darker soul than I had thought. If the child stays here, he will suffer greatly, perhaps becoming an evil to rival the so called Lord Voldemort."

She had almost turned away, when she paused, "But the Blacks served me faithfully for several years before that upstart managed to attract them like to his side. And young Sirius remained true to me, even if his family did not. The child _is_ his godson."

The woman looked conflicted. "Leaving the child here would almost certainly leave him to evil, placing him under my domain, but perhaps, yes. Instead of rivaling the upstart in power, he shall rival _me_ – a new Master of Evil, so that I may retire in my twilight decades."

"Yes," she said, picking up the baby's basket and carrying it along with her, "you shall be raised by Maleficent, my young Harry Potter. And you will not have any _need_ of luck."

* * *

For his first few years, Maleficent left Harry to be raised by some of her smarter minions. A goblin or two, along with the reporter Rita Skeeter. Rita had served her faithfully for years, and so Maleficent kept her from being noticed while in her beetle form to gather information (both for stories and for Maleficent).

Rita would, of course, not mention that Harry Potter was being raised by the Mistress of Evil to anyone. It would be bad for her health. It was on Harry's fourth birthday when Maleficent finally came to him, and said, "Do you know who I am, child?"

"Her Excellency, the Lady Maleficent, Mistress of Evil."

"Very good. And do you know why you are here, child?"

"Because you brought me here when I was a baby?" Harry guessed. Maleficent raised an eyebrow. "Ms. Skeeter said it was because I am to be your apprentice.

"And you shall be. Let me tell you a story, my young Harry Potter."

"A story about what?"

"The Sleeping Beauty. It will have many lessons in it which will be the basis of much that I teach you. Come, let us sit out in the garden for our story."

"Okay."

They got settled in the rose garden – all black roses of course; what other color would the Mistress of Evil have? – and Maleficent began, "Once upon a time in a faraway kingdom, the King and Queen were blessed with a child. To celebrate this child, they held a grand party, inviting all the people of the kingdom, and the neighboring kingdom, and even three good fairies. Do you know what their first mistake was, child?"

"Um," Harry thought for a moment. "Did they not invite you?"

"That's right. They didn't invite me. Such a thing is terribly rude, especially as they had sworn to be under my domain. Lesson one, rudeness must be punished. Each of the fairies gave the baby Princess a gift. The first gave her the gift of beauty. She would be beloved by all who saw her. The second gave her the gift of song. Her voice would be the loveliest in the land.

"It was here, that I came in. I had, of course, assumed that my own invitation to the party had merely been waylaid, but when the King and Queen admitted to not having sent it, I gave the Princess a gift of my own. A curse that on the Princess' sixteenth birthday, before the sun set, she would touch the needle of a spindle wheel and die."

"That doesn't seem very nice," Harry said.

"It's not," Maleficent answered, "but we are _evil_, child. We don't have to be nice, and disproportionate retribution is what we are known for."

"What's dis-pro-por-tion-ate re-tre-bu-tion?"

"When your reaction to another's action is far greater than the original action."

Harry still looked confused.

"A lesson for another day, child. Naturally, the King ordered his guards to attack me afterwards, and I left. The third fairy then gave the child her own gift, that if my curse should reign true it would only be an enchanted sleep instead of a death, one broken by true love's kiss."

"But then she wouldn't die like you wanted," Harry pointed out.

"No, but that's not the point of being evil, child. Lesson two, good must always triumph. Evil will never truly disappear, of course, but if good didn't always get to win, no one would bother playing hero and good wouldn't exist and then the balance would be upset. Lesson three, the balance must _never_ be upset."

"What's the balance?"

"The balance between good and evil. That is another lesson for another day. I knew the third fairy would use her gift to soften my curse. The three fairies took the Princess deep into the forest and hid her away to prevent the curse from coming true. Naturally, I sent my minions out to find him. And do you know what they spent the next sixteen years looking for?"

Harry shook his head.

"A baby still in her cradle."

Harry's brow furrowed. "But wouldn't she have grown up? Sixteen is a lot of years."

"Not so many years to us, but yes, she had grown up. Lesson four, invest in decent minions. Bad minions are a bad reflection on you."

"Isn't that what we want though? A bad reflection?"

"No, child. We want an evil reflection. Evil is not bad at being evil. Now, on the day of her sixteenth birthday, the fairies took the Princess back to the King and Queen."

"Why didn't they wait until the day after? So the curse wouldn't come true?"

"Lesson five, good is generally stupid. They must be helped as much as possible, without going overboard so they don't think you're trying to trick them. The King had ordered all the spindle wheels burned many years before, so they didn't think there was one anywhere near the castle for her to touch. Alas, that very day she had met a young man in the woods and it was love at first sight for both of them.

"The fairies left her alone to mourn her lost love, for she had been engaged to a Prince from birth. Lesson six, strike when it is the easiest for you and the hardest for them to defend against. It was easy to ensnare her mind with her grief, and lead her through a secret passage to a tower room. Transfiguration is one of the simpler branches of magic if you know what you're doing. Creating a spindle wheel was easy."

"She touched the needle, didn't she?"

"She didn't have much of a choice, child. I was in control of her actions. She touched it, yes, and then fell into a deep sleep. The fairies laid her in the tower, and enchanted the rest of the castle to sleep until she woke up."

"Why?"

"I'm unsure. I cannot comprehend their stupidity, you see. Do you remember what needed to happen for her to wake?"

"Um, true love's kiss? So the man from the woods? Or the Prince?"

"Both," Maleficent said, with a sharp smile. "They were, unknown to the Princess or the fairies, the same person. But he was not asleep in the castle, as he was on his way to meet the girl of his dreams again in the woods. Lesson seven, ambushes should be done correctly or not at all. My minions and I were waiting on him at the cabin she had directed him to. The smarter of my minions of course. Lesson four?"

"Get decent minions?"

"Yes. Good, child. Now, I then had my minions take him to my evil fortress. Lesson eight, all persons of true Evil must have an evil fortress. That's not where we are right now, of course. My fortress is at the top of a volcano at the moment. I expected him to escape rather quickly, but he did not. Do you remember lesson five?"

"Good people are stupid and need help to win?"

"Yes, exactly. I came down to the dungeons to taunt him. Nothing like a little taunting to get the hero off his ass and doing something. I showed him the future, a hundred years from that moment, that would happen if he didn't escape and soon."

"You can see the future?"

"On occasion. This, however, was false. Even I couldn't see that far into the future. Still, he took the bait, and escaped almost immediately afterwards, with help from the three fairies. One of which turned my familiar to stone."

A raven cawed and flew down to land on her outstretched arm, and then leaned forward eagerly as she stroked his head.

"Diablo is, of course, fine now. I am far stronger than those three pitiful fairies, even put together. At the time, however, a rage filled me. I am ashamed to admit I lost control. That is lesson nine, you must never lose control of your emotions. You command them, not the other way around. As I said before, transfiguration is easy if you know what you're doing. I turned into a dragon."

Harry gasped, "A _real_ dragon?"

"Of course. Is there any other kind? Of course, that particular species that I turned into is extinct now, but there are several other breeds that have survived to the present. I, thankfully, came back to myself before I upset the balance. Lesson two?"

"Good must always win."

"Yes. I let the Prince and the fairies, who enchanted his sword and shield, to think they won by falling off a cliff. Falling off cliffs is your friend when you fake your death. At the bottom they would only find the Prince's sword and my cloak. Lesson ten, never leave a body when you fake your death. If you leave a body, they assume it's a fake and will always be searching for you until they find you. If you don't leave a body, however, they assume you were too evil for your body to hold together after your death."

"But that's stupid," Harry protested.

"Lesson five, dear. Good _is_ stupid, remember."

"Oh, right."

"And then the Prince went and kissed the Princess, and then everyone woke up, and then they all lived Happily Ever After," Maleficent said.

"You didn't go back to get revenge?"

"Of course not. Lesson eleven, unless they did something particularly rage-inducing never go back to mess with the same people. Lesson two, remember, Good always has to win."

"But what about Diablo?"

"Oh, he was fine. I managed to reverse the fairy's stone spell easily. He was a little ruffled, but otherwise fine. Now what are the lessons I have taught you with this story, child? Let's start with Lesson one."

"Rudeness must be punished. If possible, with dis-pro-por-tion-ate re-tre-bu-tion."

"Good. Lesson two?"

"Good always has to win, or the balance will be upset."

"Good. Lesson three?"

"The balance must never be upset."

"Good. Lesson four?"

"Get decent minions. Stupid minions are bad, and we're evil, not bad."

"Good. Lesson five?"

"Good is stupid and must be helped to win."

"Good. Lesson six?"

"Strike when easiest for you and hardest for them."

"Good. Lesson seven?"

"Ambushes are to be done correctly or not at all."

"Good. Lesson eight?"

"All evil people need an evil fortress."

"Good. Lesson nine?"

"Don't let your emotions control you."

"Good. Lesson ten?"

"Don't leave behind a body when you fake your death."

"Good. And finally, lesson eleven?"

"Don't mess with the same people more than once, unless they really, _really_ deserve it."

"Good. Time for bed, child. Tomorrow, your training intensifies."

Maleficent smirked as Harry went off to his bed without argument. She might get to retire early if the boy soaked up all of his lessons this well.

* * *

As always, I am accepting prompts, however, I am not accepting prompts through reviews. If you wish to give me a prompt, please see the Accepting Prompts section of my profile for instructions. Thank you.

I. H. Scribe


End file.
